Overheard at Table 3: James Baldwin "Nothing Personal"

Nothing Personal

James Baldwin 

 

More of an extended essay than a "book" per se, this writing was originally published along with some artwork that a friend of Baldwin's had completed to go hand in hand with the words, but the editor and preface writer found this essay profound enough to present in book form, without the accompanying art.

I wish I could write solely about the essay, but frankly, the preface and the afterword overshadows the magnificent perceptive writing by Baldwin, by attempting to apply what he wrote in 1964 after the death of Medgar Evers to the Trump presidency of our present day.  They attempt to ascribe some sort of prescience to Nothing Personal; in effect, making it very personal ... to them.   

This dilutes the work itself, which speaks to a much more universal theme of the overall American character: our self-loathing, our inability to be truly honest with ourselves and our past, our inability to articulate what it is we truly long for.

While I write this, I think perhaps, then that the words written by the preface writer and the afterword are perhaps integral to that book, or that edition, to be more accurate.   Their words are not as brilliant or as thought-provoking as Baldwin's, and it is easy to see who, of the three essays in that tome, is the true master storyteller, who is the true master of thought.  It is Baldwin, and the others merely try to use Baldwin to defend the point that is emotionally painful to them in the here and the now.

But these times will move on.  They will change.  And if anybody reads this particular edition of Nothing Personal one hundred years from now, they will find that Baldwin's essay still holds some inspirational message, whereas the writings that bookend the essay will seem like antiquated rantings.

 

 

 

Overheard at Table 2: Deacon LifeGroup Study

Notes from the LifeGroup gathering:

Genesis 1:28 - be fruitful and multiply

The church doesn't want to split groups, but it wants them to split organically and naturally.  The call this the BIRTH PLAN

John 14:12 - Believes and will do.

Ephesians 4:11-12

    Equip the Saints for service

Matthew 28 - the Great Commission

Matthew 4:19 

2 Timothy 2:2

Matthew 6:33 

John 3:30

Acts 1:8

Pastor suggests the book

Hero Maker by Dave Ferguson

Overheard at Table 3: FOX 8 Book Review

One of the praise quotes on the back reads "Not since Twain has American produced a satirist this funny" which is not true, as the 20th Century produced quite a few satirists who could be considered closer to Twain in humor.   However, since this is the only story I've read by George Saunders, perhaps I should reserve my opinion until I have read other works by him.

That said, let's focus on the story: it's good.  Sadly, not earth-shattering, and truly not all that original, although the premise is quite nice - a fox who has taught himself human language, both in speech and in writing, and is writing this story as a sort of "wake-up call" to Yumans.

In this, we see the devastation to the home of Fox 8 and the other foxes in his den by human creation of a mall and housing addition, much along the lines of what we saw in the movie "Over the Hedge"  and in truth, this story could be expanded into a novella length along the lines of the other great anthropomorphic books (Charlotte's Web comes to mind, as well as another book I once read from the 19th century whose title escapes me at the moment).   

There is a very dark scene in which his friend, Fox 7, is kicked to death brutally by two human workers, and I still can't tell if that scene if egregious (simply there for shock value) or if it makes a salient point about the mindless cruelty of human beings.  The fact that the rest of the story is lighter by comparison truly makes that scene stand out.

While there are some happy moments in the story (the image of the other fox dancing when she tells him that she doesn't want their future cubs to have a grumpy dad), ultimately the story leaves one unfulfilled.   In short, the story's too short.  Needs to be a bit more.  Again, a novella, perhaps.

But, it's a quick read for waiting in the doctor's office, which is much better than doomscrolling through one's phone, so there's that.

Overheard at Table 3: Ultra-Processed People

Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food

Chris Van Tulleken

Published by WW Norton, 2023

 

 

This guy's a doctor, a professor, and holds a PhD in molecular virology, so it is wholly gratifying to read from him ideas that I have been harboring for well over a few years now.  Vindication for my observations!

While he admits that more studies must be made and that there has been no coherent, peer-reviewed and tested studies, the results of many doctors and scientists' observations convincingly argues for a link between the obesity epidemic and our food - and not just the sugars, but ALL of our food, which has become not real "food" in the ways that our bodies understand food.

Now, be aware, all you conspiracy theorists, he is NOT saying that there is some sort of global cabal of Illuminati who have decided to kill us all by giving us Type-2 diabetes; however, he is saying that the food industry, growing and evolving over the past 40 years, has been systematically breaking down our normal food staples to their bare essences, then adding chemicals to preserve their shelf-life, make them ready for long-haul transportation, and to make you consume more of them.

All for the sake of selling more, making more money.

He also makes the case that much of our obesity is not a moral failing or a weak will, as is so often intimated in our culture, but that these foods are designed to "hook" our brains.  They trigger the pleasure centers of our brains much in the same way that cigarettes and heroin do, and they tell the body to get ready for a heavy dose of nutrition that never comes.  So, the brain thinks that you're eating food, your guts then say, "Yo!  Where dafuq is the nutrition?!" and then your body, overall, is left wanting more and more ...

It reminded me so much of the Star Trek Episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles" in which an enzyme was added to grain destined for a starving planet that would render the consumers of the grain unable to process any nutrients.   The Tribbles got into the grain containers and over ate the grain, and died of starvation.  The tag line for the show was, "In a vat full of food, they STARVED to death"

My wife and I, just last night, had a three piece chicken strip meal from Raising Cane's,... complete with fries.   This was at least 1100 calories ... and we had had another 600 calories from Chick-Fil-A that morning and home-cooked chicken and rice for lunch (probably around 700 calories)

So, we had had possibly double our caloric intake need for the day, yet! about two hours after the Raising Cane's meal, we were both suddenly ravenous.  It was about 10pm at night, and frankly, I could've guzzled down a cheeseburger.  But we both just drank water and went to bed.  

What I'm telling you with this is that we understand what this book is saying because we live this, daily.

Much of the science contained in this book I don't understand, but I commend the author for doing his level best to make it understandable for a layperson such as I.   Also contained in these pages are many stories of his conversations with other doctors and scientists who are interesting characters in their own right.

The closest he comes to calling any specific company out as being particularly evil is Nestlé ... you need to read the chapter describing how they have single-handedly destroying the traditional food infrastructure in Brazil.

One of the most impactful chapters was on GRAS - Generally Regarded as Safe: a classification set by the FDA in the late 50s when Congress was concerned about potentially poisonous additives to food.   It seems there is a process by which any company that wants to make an additive to food needs to submit an application to the FDA for GRAS status; however, if they don't like how the FDA questions them, they can simply withdraw the application and put the additive into their product and call it GRAS anyway.  

So really, what's the point of the FDA if the "F" in their title is merely symbolic?

One other part of the book that interested me was a study conducted by a Chicago pediatrician in the 1920s named Clara Davis.  She did a study on roughly two dozen poor children just after they were weaned: she gave them various choices of foods and let the infants decide what they wanted to eat.  Each of them, without any prompting, ate the foods that their bodies needed to grow healthy and strong. 

I was reminded of the Book of Daniel, Chapter 1, in which Daniel asked that he and his fellow captive Israelites be allowed to eat their food of vegetables instead of the King's meat, to demonstrate that they would show themselves healthier than other people's on the "regular" diet.

This experiment (while admittedly was with a very small test group) underpins what most of this book is trying to tell us: that our bodies know what is needed to keep us healthy, but for the sake of cheapness and for convenience, we have given up our natural foods for mouthfuls of mush, jam-packed with chemical flavoring and colors and we have TOLD ourselves that this is food.

But it's not.

And it's killing us.

That's of course, my conclusion anyway.  The good doctor is a bit more dispassionate and a lot more erudite, but yes, we can only conclude that the food we eat has no nutritional value and it's designed to addict us into eating more and more.

We are the tribbles.  And we are in this grain bin, and we are eating and eating and starving ourselves to death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 4: Juan Rulfo "Pedro Páramo" Translated by Sayers

 Juan Rulfo "Pedro Páramo" Translated by Sayers

Overheard at Table 4: Truth Matters

Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World

Andrea Kostenberger, Darrell Bock, & Josh Chatraw

(c) 2014

B&H Publishing Group, Nashville TN

 

 

The premise reminds me of he first God is Not Dead Movie, in that this book is geared toward the young student entering college, who has been woefully unprepared for the rhetoric and mind-opening discourse they are about to encounter.   While the book aims at "arming" the student with better defenses against the arguments against Christian Faith, it also admits that our churches and our parenting has done a piss-poor job of raising people with any sort of true knowledge of Christ or Scripture.

Which one could argue, is the greatest problem with Christianity today: too much Sunday School Elementary-level Bible Stories for children and very little by way of true edification in the tenets of our Faith tradition.

I found the book quite helpful, and I'll highlight some of the passages that I liked, but it's best to start with the biggest critique of the book, which is that it seems to focus too much on one man, Bart Ehrman.  This professor was apparently raised in the Christian faith but left as a young man when he could not find valid answers to the apparent contradictions among different parts of the Scripture (again, a most evident demonstration of the late 20th Century's lack of coherent and logical apologetics)

Basically, this book is a direct refutation of every book Ehrman has written, which weakens the argument as a book of apologetics when it seems so petty.  It's as though these three authors all took one of Ehrman's classes and got resoundingly slapped (rhetorically) by the professor.

That said, some of the passages that seem interesting are as follows:

p 13  Paul writing that, at the time of his writing the First Letter to the Corinthians, there were still at least 500 living witnesses to Jesus's earthly ministry.   Basically, Paul was saying, "You can still go check original sources."  (I make a note of this, as this ties into a literary WIP I've been toying with)

p19 A quote from Tim Keller "The Reason for God" (2008) - a book I need to check out

    "Just because you can';t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen         doesn't mean that there can't be one.  Again we see lurking within this supposed hard-nosed                     skepticism an enormous faith in one's own cognitive faculties.  If our minds can't plumb the depths         of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can't be any!  This is blind faith of a         high order."

p34 Root Issues

    "Most of people's doubts about God in relation to suffering stem from two taproots:

        1) a refusal to see God as having divine rights over His creation, and 

        2) a minimization of the extent of human rebellion against our Creator."

This is a hard pill to swallow for most.

p113 is a section of the book in which the authors do concede that there are no original hand-written documents by the original Apostles, and they show where Ehrman uses this to cast doubt on all New Testament scripture, albeit stating that "perhaps" his agnosticism could be mollified if there were, say, an original manuscript by Mark which was 99.999999% close to the texts that we do have.   The authors make a good point that papyri do wear out.   However, they take much time to demonstrate how meticulous were the Old Testament scribes that they maintained a high level of authenticity; they also show how such scrutiny by the skeptics is not applied to other texts of the contemporary times (although this is a False Equivalence - other texts do not claim to be THE WORD OF GOD)

I wish that the authors would have taken a moment to insist that the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Triune God, if we teach ourselves that such God inspired and guided the scriptures, then the Holy Spirit can move these texts as God desires, throughout all the transcribing, and that our Bible is not the actual original ink on some papyrus, but the Word as it is spoken to humanity and accepted by the individual.

[that's a note for a future essay on the subject]

p 138 - is in a section that makes a fair point that while most skeptics think the OT was written in the 5th or 6th Centuries, that the original Gospels and Epistles were written in the 1st century, only a generation or so after Jesus's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

p150 "AD 33- Jesus dies and rises from the dead.  No later than AD 35, Paul is converted and adopts the church's exalted Christology and teaching on salvation."

    [NOTE: I really need to delve more into that timeline, because that does seem a bit too soon in the timeline for those events to occur.  However, I am no expert - this warrants more study on my part]

p 180 - from the Notes ... Ch 2 Note 8. Alvin Plantinga "A Christian Life Partly Lived" in Philosophers Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of 11 Leading Thinkers, ed. Kelly James Clark (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1997), 72

    Alister E McGrath,
Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2012), 166-67

   

Overheard at Booth 2: John Steinbeck "Tortilla Flat"

John Steinbeck Tortilla Flat

Overheard at Table 1: Harry Potter and the Censors

 

Heard something today about Harry Potter ... a pro-LGBTQ speaker stating that anybody who has Harry Potter items in their social media bio, or references to Harry Potter in their work or lives, may need to rethink their position, as their support of Harry Potter may be painful to the community because of the creator, JK Rowling.

JK Rowling has, as we all know, in recent years, become quite a controversial figure for her anti-LGBTQ views.

However, for me, personally, Harry Potter represents a period in my life in which I read those books as bedtimes stories to my grade-school son, and it was one of the best memories that I have of him, as his mom & I divorced when he was very young, and he rejected me as a teenager.

So, when I think of Harry Potter, all I have in my heart is a tender memory of my first born son, who will probably never speak to me again in this life.

Now, I understand my personal pain does not measure to the trauma and rejection that this community has suffered; however, I do take umbrage at the subtle censorship by the speaker in the beginning paragraph of this missive: Short version - throw out Harry Potter because it hurts LGBTQ people.

Again, I reiterate my theory that, to be a healthy literate public, we must learn to separate the art from the artist.  Whatever views Rowling has should be immaterial to her creation, which has now a life of its own independent of her.   Harry Potter should be enjoyed by all - and by that, I mean ALL people, regardless of orientation.  Because, while I will never proclaim the Potter books as particularly good writing, per se, the characters are lovable and relatable, and the story is a wonderful underdog tale, and a surmounting of all odd so that good will prevail, and the ultimate message that Love truly does conquer all.

I am truly sorry that Rowling's comments are hurtful to a large segment of the human race - but I will stand firm that, for me personally, Harry Potter is truly all that I have left of my only-begotten son ... and I have made it my ground to stand against all forms of literary censorship, regardless of the source or their rationale.

 

Overheard at Booth 5: Tuesdays

TUESDAYS

DEVON

So here we are.  Therapy.  I never wanted to be here.  Never wanted it to get this far.  But we have to do something.  Something to get us back on track.  So I guess this is better than just snapping at each other all the time.

I knew we’d have to talk about our stuff and open up an all that, but it’s already been about a month of weekly sessions and we’re just going around the same old stuff, and the shrink is giving us the same old lang syne…

“Communication” 

Jesus, it’s always about communication.  I don’t know how to communicate with Cait, not any more.

I mean, we used to, in the beginning, before the kids and even when they were young, but things happen and then you just, I don’t know, build up layers.  

Let Cait answer some of these questions…

CAIT

“He never tells me what he needs,” I say to Grace, and she just sits there, like a cat, staring at us both with those eyes, like we’re the mice, and she’s deciding which one to pounce on first.

“By ‘needs’ are you talking about emotional support … or intimate needs?”

What the hell did she just say?

Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.  I figured she was going to get to that sooner or later.   I don’t really want to go there, but

yeah, I just sighed.

A big sigh.

Devon just gave me a look.

This is always about me.  Dammit.  Isn’t it?  Doesn’t Grace know that we women ALWAYS have to be held accountable for the man’s needs?  Why didn’t she ask HIM that question?   

“I suppose we’re not as intimate as we used to be, but he’s always cold.”

GRACE

And there it is.  Cold.  Usually it’s the man who tells me that his female partner is the cold one.  Didn’t expect that.   But yes, the moment these two came into my office, I knew instantly that this was their issue.  Which is good.  We can work with that.  Sex is actually the easiest problem to overCUM, even if married couples like to pretend that it’s the hardest.  

Thank GOD their problem isn’t the kids or spending.  This is going to make this SO MUCH EASIER.

DEVON

“I want to give her … oral.”

There, I said it.  No more beating around the bush.  If we’re going to do this, let’s get it out in the open.

“And I don’t want oral,” Cait says.  And the way she sounds – so cold, so HARD, so committed.

“What is it about oral sexual stimulation that you don’t like?” Grace asks.  Really softly.  I like the way

she’s asked that to Ciat.  A lot better than I normally say things.

“Do you know how many germs there are in the human mouth?” Yup.  THAT’s what she always says.  At least she’s saying it to the doctor.  SOMEone else is hearing this.

“You can always ask him to brush his teeth first.  Gargle, whatever.”

“Still, though … it’s just… ew!”

GRACE

Poor Cait.  She really has an aversion to head, and she’s not going to get over it easily.   “Devon, what about oral lovemaking satisfies you?  I take it you haven’t in awhile, so you CAN live without it.”

“Yes,” he says.  He’s so nervous about this.  Men usually are.  “It just … when I do it, it gets me harder.”

“You haven’t had a REALLY good erection in years!” Cait says.

“And it’s been YEARS since you let me go down on you!” 

“You know,” I find myself saying, “It IS a natural act.  In fact, there are some women who are just the opposite, who only want oral and ZERO interest in penetration intercourse.”  Oh my God I find myself getting wet at just the thought of it.

Cait says, “Well then maybe Devon should just give some woman oral sex and THEN come home to me.”

“Perhaps he should.”

“Maybe it’s you,” Cait says to me.  Smart woman.  I like her.  I like them both actually.

CAIT

Good.  I trust her.  Fuck, I can actually see her almost panting already, although she’s doing a damn good job at keeping it in control.   I think this will work.

“Next Tuesday’s session then,” I tell her.  “Devon comes alone.”

DEVON

What the fuck is going on?

….

DEVON

OK, Tuesday afternoon, usual 3:30 appointment.  The receptionist, normally cold, is she … smirking?

Does she know?  Seems like she knows.

I knock on the door.  Grace tells me to come in.  

I shut the door behind me and there she is: sitting in her office chair, legs crossed, long hair flowing down her chest.  Wearing nothing but a white bra. 

Oh shit I can’t breathe.  Her eyes, sharp brown and piercing.

She tells me to sit in front of her.  She tells me that everything is going to be fine, and Grace, such a tiny, slim slip of a woman, suddenly seems so … full.

I take her foot, toes painted black, in my hand, slowly spread her legs apart, and I hesitate for a second.

Then, she reaches over and pulls me into her.

GRACE

Just get to it, Devon, this is why you are here.  This is what I have been waiting for all week!  

Poor Devon, it HAS been a long time since he’s done this!   I almost want to giggle, but that wouldn’t be professional, would it?  No … help him.  Guide him.  He’ll get better.   

There you are, the rhythm, make a rhythm…  go deeper, move deeper, there you go, you dear man, use the tongue, around the labia, in and out, feel around, yes, you are exploring, explore, find, seek …

DEVON

I love this I love this I love everything about this, oh lord the taste, that beautifully tart DEEP RICH flavor, my tongue bringing out HER wetness, and the smell of deep ocean, of lush jungle, the smell and the taste and oh god I know I’m probably licking like a fucking untrained puppy dog but it’s here and it’s now and dammit just enjoy this and 

there she is! Moving her hips, under my chin, pressing against my upper teeth, her hands on my head, my hands on her hips her legs over my shoulders, don’t stop now, don’t stop now, keep rocking those hips keep

GRACE 

that rhythm yes, there you are, like the ocean, like the ocean waves, beating beating beating against the waves, just like Corsica that one summer, and oh my GOD!

DEVON

WOW!  Those thighs are crushing my skull!  Did my ear just pop?  Pretty strong for such a tiny woman!  Holy hell…. 

well, I guess that’s my cue that we’re done.

GRACE

Didn’t expect that orgasm to be so strong.  Whoa.  Catch a breath here, Grace.

Maybe it’s been longer for me than I thought.  Maybe this … arrangement is worth repeating.

Devon seems much more relaxed now as well, and there is a gleam in his eye.  Poor man!  Instinctively unzipping his pants.  

“No,” I tell him.  “You take that home to your wife.”

He smiles.  He leaves, bulging.   Devon is a man who understands boundaries.  He’s one of the good ones.  I think Cait knows that.

DEVON

Texting my wife on the way out the door to the car… “come home ASAP”

…

CAIT

Walking in the door and Devon is already there waiting for me.  He kisses me with more passion than he has kissed me in years, with an urgency that I haven’t felt … so long!  Fuck, he’s not even waiting to get to the bedroom, he’s ripping down my underwear!  WOW!  Glad I decided to wear a skirt today…

“What if the Amazon guy comes to the door?” I ask, “He’ll see our shapes through the glass.”

“If he does, let him,” Devon says, and the turns me around, and I put my hands on the alcove shelf and Devon is inside me already and he is fuller than I have felt him in so long, Oh my God how I love this man how I love every part of him and how I love his urgency and how I love his need for me and his hand that reaches around to cup my breast and his other hand with my skirt hiked up around my hip and take me, Dev, fucking yes just take me

DEVON

I love this woman, fuck, do I love this woman, her huge hips, I just want to smack ‘em, just grab them and hold on, I need her, I do need you Cait, god I love you, she is so perfect inside, she has the perfect pussy and it’s mine and my dick is hers and this is for

“Come,” Cait says and I do.  And I do.

CAIT

I love the thrust and the flow and I love this man, and yes, THIS is a FLOW!  I can tell he is coming a river.  

Then, he releases me and I need a moment to catch my breath …  hello!  Steady there.

“Are you … OK?” Devon asks.

“Better than OK,” I say.  I turn around and I kiss him … HARD.   “I love you!”

“I love you too,” he says.

“No, I mean I REALLY love YOU.”

“And I do really love YOU!”

Then, I say, “Let’s go get some tacos!”

“Taco Tuesday?” he says.  Then, he smirks, “Now THAT’s some kind of double entendre.”

And now we’re both laughing.  Laughing more than we’ve laughed in a long time, and it’s good.  

It’s very good.

Overheard at Table 2: Her Words

She knew words were powerful, from the first time she wrote a story as a child and made her mother cry.

In high school, she wrote a story about suicide.  Three of her classmates took their lives before the end of the semester.

In college, she wrote a story about wild, unprotected sex.  The University noted a sharp uptick in pregnancies and venereal diseases that year.

In her twenties, she wrote a story about gun violence.  Murders in her neighborhood increased exponentially.

One day, she decided to write a story in which everybody in the world was caring and decent and kind to each other, and everyone lived in peace and then ...

nothing happened.

Nothing changed.

She realized that there was, indeed, a limit to her power.  To the power of her words.

Feeling a deep, profound disappointment, she sat down to write her final story, one in which every country decided to drop all their bombs, everywhere, all over the world.

Overheard at Table 1: NaNoWriMo Shuts Down Forums

Why we can't have nice things.

No idea if any of the grooming accusations are true, but let's just all admit that there are no safe spaces anywhere and it's very sad when some of the spaces we hope were safe turn out not to be ... or at least are accused of not being safe.

But then, I haven't been using the forums anyway. I just use NaNoWriMo to try to finish my novel.

To The NaNoWriMo Community,

We're dropping in to communicate to a broader audience about concerns that were brought to the attention of the Board. The concerns we received related exclusively to activity on our online forums. Though individual issues were varied in nature, they led us to a singular conclusion: that closing down the forums until issues could be properly resolved was the right first step. 

We are aware that a great deal of misinformation and innuendo on the matter is circulating. Though we cannot control speculation and sensationalism, we can be transparent about the questions we’ve received and the action that has been taken. 

The issues brought to our attention include:

1. Inconsistent moderation and lack of attention to resolving complaints

2. Concerns about the safety of minors (one volunteer moderator accused of grooming was complained about for not being removed from the forums in a timely fashion)

3. Dynamics between moderators and community members; concerns about inclusiveness and staff conflicts of interest

The decision to temporarily shut down the forums was made out of a desire to stop and investigate, and to exercise an abundance of caution. Online forums cannot serve as safe and welcoming community spaces without a large-enough team of well-trained moderators.

We are also a 25-year-old community whose growth has outpaced that of the resources in place to support it. It is the Board's opinion that now is the right moment to pause, meaningfully resolve problems, and address complaints and match resources to needs. It's time to press the reset button on the forums. 

This will take time and we appreciate your patience. In the meantime, we need to make a few things absolutely clear:

• The vast majority of complaints sent to the Board have not been verified, including claims about child grooming. It is important to draw a distinction between the voluntary, precautionary measure of proactively shutting down the forums and measures that might be taken if our thorough investigation confirms the truth of any of these complaints. 

• The Board received its first complaint on November 7th. This was the Board’s first knowledge of these issues and the first community member outreach that any current Board member had been sent. 

• Since that date, the Board has been transparent and responsive. You are welcome to view our official statements and findings on the NaNoWriMo main forums. 

• We have primarily communicated on the forums about this, but we realized that some commentary was warranted more broadly, which is why we're sending this email. 

Maintaining the Magic of NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is a rich, dynamic, global community that reaches far beyond our online forums. Around the world, countless authors are writing amazing things. NaNoWriMo has tremendous reach beyond the forums that continues to lend support and resources to writers. 

Though some of what is being said about the organization is unflattering, we hope you will review our responses and conclude that we are operating to the highest standards of integrity in this matter. We have volunteered to serve on this Board from an abundance of love for the organization, its people and what it aims to do. We will work hard to regain your trust.

We'll end with a Fred Rogers quote we like about what truly happens in challenging situations. "Look for the helpers. There is always someone helping." We want to acknowledge the hundreds (if not thousands) of community members who step forward every day and who have stepped forward in this moment. For every concern we've received in our inbox, we have also received words of encouragement and offers of help.

In Partnership,

The NaNoWriMo Board

Overheard at Table 1: Notes for Disassociation Tomato

From ruminating last night while going to sleep:

Disassociation Tomato

Parking lot of mall.

girls send the collectors after Matthew and Acsa

who run,

bump into a car

race off

Find a parked car.

"will this work?"

"It's a door, ain't it?"

trying to fend off the Collectors while Kit opens the door

Go through - Department store.

"Perfect!" Acsa says.  

They spend the night - change of clothes

separate beds

Awake to Security Guard telling them time to leave.

Has brought them breakfast.

Felon or something.

what year?

2005

iPod with songs by the Ardmore Gongmongers 

the band - their singer 

 

 

Overheard at Table 2, Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs

 ... annnnnnd following on the heels of yesterday's revelation, I was trying to read this book (the 9th Tarzan book by Edgar Rice Burroughs) on the plane coming back to Houston from Newark.   

While I do enjoy the fact that the books show Tarzan as more than the grunting fool portrayed in the movies, and chapter one opens with a well written scene of the lion cub witnessing the death of his mother, chapters two and three seemed poorly written and indicative of a writer who was more pushing through the years to rush to some future story than desiring to build up the suspense. 

Tarzan has a bratty son, seems to be almost worshipped by the African tribes (so, yeah, in our contemporary culture, this smacks of White Savior Syndrome) and chapter three with the weird relation between Flora and the Spanish actor who resembles Tarzan ... well, let's just say, I was not really intrigued to go further.

It's not badly written, but again, from the book the day before, there are other things I want to read, and so I shall cast this back into the world and move on to other tomes.

First copyright 1922

This Ballentine Edition 1976

Overheard at Table 2: The Code of the Executive

Perhaps it has since been revised and updated, but this 1997 edition is not only outdated, but it is a relatively insipid read.  While the idea is brilliant - to take the Bushido code and apply it to Executives (by this, he obviously means upper Management, those who have direct contact and responsible for support of the CEO)  - the actual advice reveals nothing new.  There are the ideas of studying your business even while not at work, making certain that your CEO is always prepared for meetings, that audio-visual for any conference has been tested, that you have your golf game adequate, etc.   

As I said: a bit pat, and now even a bit dated.  Yes, this book does speak to the need for absolute integrity, and yes, perhaps I was a bit ruffled when it suggests that I, as an Executive, shouldn't focus too much on my creative writing, but the one thing that I took away from this book was that time is short and my days are now shortening, and it does not good to waste precious time on books that I do not find enjoyable. 

So I haven't finished it.  Therefore, this can't be added to my list of 1,000 Books.  But I've read enough to put it here for the rest of you ... and hey, if it's been brought up to date, please let me know.

Overheard at Table 1: Idea for Series - The Imagined History of Floridaman

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230528-the-overseas-highway-the-us-floating-highway?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Since this railroad cum highway brought poor islands to the mainland and forever changed Florida, it would be interesting to have some sort of multigenerational series on "The Evolution of Floridaman"

He didn't necessarily come out of the swamps ... he was hanging out in the Keys.

Until the day that the gaps between the islands were bridged, and Floridaman came to the peninsula!

Do you think I can sell the idea to Carl Hiaasen?

 

 

 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 4: "Tiny Tales" by Jana Jenkins

In short (as the stories are short) this IS a good read.  

Flash Fiction, to be truly effective, depends on the twist, the turn, and the economy of word usage actually makes that more challenging than it may seem, and this writer has a fantastic hold on the form.   Her stories have dark twists, thought-provoking twists, romantic twists.  And each one leaves the reader with a smile, or a tiny shock, or simply saying, "whoaaaa!"

It is obvious that these stories were originally posted on Twitter.  The hashtags have also been left in, which, for a reader unfamiliar with Twitter (if there are any) will find the hashtag a bit confusing, which detracts from the story.  What would make this a five-star book would be a reworking of the stories for a book format: allow the writer to re-write the stories (as needed) beyond the Tweet character limit, reformat the pages, possibly even add titles, so that the eye doesn't run the stories together (one's brain may try to read them as a long thread instead of individual stories)

Again, these stories are delightful, and yes, they need to be read by many more people.  This reader looks forward to a future edition of this tome where these wonderful tales are allowed a little more room to breathe, stretch, and become the best versions of themselves.

Overheard at Table 3: More Quotes from Idle Hands

Some good quotes from "Idle Hands" by Cassondra Windwalker

These quotes are spoken by the narrative voice of Ella, who is, in fact, the devil.

From the Agora Books publication in 2022

p 26:  You are the only reason anxiety is a concept.  In fact, you could say it's the source of your occasional nobility.

p 27: The beauties of this world are already so terribly brief, and you shorten them even more with your incessant dissatisfaction.  It's a quality neither I nor your Creator much enjoy.

p 85: (about Perdie, the worried mother)  Now that's how I like to see someone.  In my vast experience, the nearer you are to claiming responsibility for someone else's happiness or misery, the closer you are to me.  Whether you admit it or not, every one of you has a God complex.  To be fair, They kind of built it into you.  At any rate, you'd all like to believe you have more control, more influence, than you do.  That your choice, whatever it was, matters so much more than everyone else's.  Which makes you easy to manipulate.  Easy to drive to despair.  And once in despair, you'll clutch at any unexpected lifeboat, however patently unseaworthy the craft.

Overheard at Table 2: "Idle Hands" by Cassondra Windwalker

 In the tradition of CS Lewis's Screwtape Letters, the Devil is detailing the events of this tale, at many times interjecting herself into the text to direct her observations at you, dear reader, and even placing herself directly into the plot. Of interesting note is that the Devil is female, whereas the Triune God she refers to as "they" - which subtly places "them" not only as plural (or at least non-binary) but puts them outside, afar, distant.

The philosophy espoused by Ella (the Devil) is theologically sound according the tenets of the Christian Faith, and it would be interesting to see if this author uses her again in another book.

This book is a twist on the Faustian tales, but instead of a male Faust selling his soul for worldly riches, we have Perdie (a mother of three) faced with decisions that tears at the hearts of so many mothers. Ella, of course, uses that for a bit of a game, a "what would you do if you could?" false choice, that leads to unexpected consequences.

Not more than that should be given, so as not to give any spoilers. Suffice it to say, this author has a good handle on the tone of the novel. At times, the philosophy may be a bit lengthy; however, the intensity of the story and the decisions that Perdie has to make keep you engaged and engrossed and turning the page.

The characters are flawed, indeed, and we know who to root for and who not to. Matt, the abusive husband, at times comes across as a bit one-dimensional, but Reilly (Perdie's second husband) is a wonderfully refreshing contrast to the stereotype of step-fathers being at best uncaring and at worst, abusive. He is kind, considerate, and makes decisions that true dads and husbands make.

The theme and the events of this book are intense, and the author handles them with grace, but doesn't shy away from the importance of the details (where Ella lives, of course) and the strength of this book is that it never gives you exactly what you expect. We've all read enough "family drama" stories to think, "Oh yeah, this will happen this way" ... but not here. This is truly a surprise, and hopefully that will encourage you to read this book, because yes, this is a book that people should read.

"Refreshing, intelligent, engaging, philosophical" are the terms I would splay over the front cover of any subsequent reprint of this novel.

Written 2023-0515

Posted on 2023-0315 (rough date of when I finished reading the book)

Overheard at Booth 3: "I Kill the Mockingbird" by Paul Acampora

 I enjoyed this book immensely, but in full confession, I read it just after reading Paolo Coehlo's The Pilgrimage, which was so offensive to a true Follower of Christ that anything after that would have been a relief.  This book was a perfect relief and a much-needed bright "lift" after reading something so evil.   Thus, my review should probably be taken in that context.

The story is simple enough: Jr High students start a "reverse psychology" campaign to encourage people to read "To Kill a Mockingbird" by hiding all the copies in the local bookstore.  They have given the illusion that the supply is reduced, thus increasing demand.  They also send out a multi-media effort to pretend that the book has been banned, which also increases interest in the book.

The novel is fleshed out with several subplots, such as the main character dealing with her mother's cancer as well as her burgeoning more-than-Platonic interest in her friend.  

Some harsher critics will (and have) dismissed the book's characters as reading like an adult's dream of how teens should act, and to be fair, yes, it is difficult to imagine a teenager who is a baseball star and whose favorite author is Charles Dickens; however, this is a delightful tale about bibliophiles and it obviously is designed to target the child in all of us who actually enjoy reading and enjoy reading well.  So yes, while it may have been more believable had these kids been reading "The Fault in Our Stars" more than "Fahrenheit 451," that doesn't change the fact that, however, fanciful, these characters are alive and, more importantly, fun.

It's a fun book.  Even with dealing with a cancer diagnosis.  It is about that summer between Jr High and High School, when everything is on the cusp of changing, and the last vestiges of childhood and innocence are going to be left behind.

Overhead at Table 3: Cryptogram and Responses

"There are authors who write to communicate, and there are authors who write to impress themselves."
— Mark S. Hertzog

Comments on this Puzzle:
nevadasmith68
June 20, 2013, 10:21 pm
Hemingway would be one of those who wrote to impress themselves.
Allen
July 31, 2014, 5:49 am
That's why we've never heard of him, I guess.
QuexUl
October 9, 2014, 2:45 am
What about the authors who write to communicate that they want to impress themselves?
LLapp
August 1, 2016, 5:59 pm
When I read Hemingway, it's like I can hear a deep clean gong of truth inside his prose. His writing is exquisite.
maradnu
October 2, 2017, 6:15 am
Hemingway only won the Nobel Prize for literature and a Pulitzer Prize for fiction - clearly not much of a writer.
writeon
January 30, 2018, 4:14 pm
Awards like that don't necessarily mean the author appeals to the masses, but to academia. I love to read quality literature but quickly grow weary of run-on sentences.
badbob
August 30, 2018, 2:13 am
anyone caring to waste an afternoon should go to the Bulwer Lytton web site. really great bad opening lines. lots of laughs
LLapp
January 31, 2021, 4:56 am
My favorite passage from "The Old Man and the Sea": Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. But imagine if a man each day should have to try to kill the sun? We were born lucky, he thought. // Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought. But are they worthy to eat him? No, of course not. There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity. // I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.
Elephino
April 24, 2021, 10:43 pm
^ wow.
Persephone59
September 16, 2021, 3:04 am
Hey, writeon, what do you have against Charles Dickens? And LLapp, I am glad you like Hemingway; so do I. I admire your comparison of his prose to a gong. He got me through a good stretch of my hospital stay last year, as it was the only literature they had; they could have done far worse! I read "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Too bad you don't like DH Lawrence. Oh well.
abra
May 4, 2022, 2:13 am
The only Hemingway I've ever read was The Old Man and the Sea. I really did like that one.